Take Back The Galar Region
by ToBlazePurple
Summary: Eternatus Victorious. The heroes thought they won, but as history lost the wolves, so too has history lost the warnings of Galar's First Doomsday. The strongest of the heroes have fallen to temptation, while the other is left broken. Yet Galar is still in need of Heroes. A divine but desperate action brings three unlikely people together to save the region, or doom an entire world.
1. Dull Sword, Cracked Shield

Authors Notes: Okay, so, here's my thought process for this story.

Me, mostly a comedic and adventure writer: Aww, I'm a sucker for the new Sword and Shield Pairings, especially the ones about Hop. The ones I'm reading are really cute. You know what? I want to write a cute story for once! Brain, come up with one!

My Brain: Sure thing!

(Later)

My Brain: There! We made our very first angst fic!

Me: ... Brain, what the f—

Author Notes: If I'm suffering this bad fic, you all must suffer this bad fic.

* * *

[Take Back The Galar Region]

It begins with the end of the world. Two trainers stood beside two legends as they fought against a creature that defied logic. The trainers gave it their all, commanding their Pokemon like never before alongside the heroes known as Zacian and Zamazenta. The two gasped for breath as if they ran three marathons straight while the trainers were down to their last Pokemon, but the being known as Eternatus was defeated with a combined four-way attack.

"Mate, now!" Hop yelled over the explosions erupting from the giant, eldritch hand-abomination. "Catch Eternatus!"

The girl used her Dynamax Band to enlarge an Ultra Ball then threw it overhead to capture the weakened beast. As it was sucked into the empowered Poke Ball, everyone waited with bated breath as the ball shook once...

Hop and Gloria gasped for air as they shifted into stances with their starters. Rillaboom and Cinderace slumped and silently prayed that it wouldn't escape.

Twice...

Zacian and Zamazenta took a step forward. Despite injured, they glared at the Poke Ball, readying themselves if the battle continued.

Thrice...

It stopped shaking. For this single moment, the world stood still.

DING!

They exhaled not just their held breath, but their fears and doubt.

As that happened, the sun appeared again behind the storm caused by Eternatus, and the two legendary wolves disappeared into the sky.

For a while, all was quiet.

"Yeah! We did it!" Hop cried out as he ran up to his friend, Gloria, and hugged her in an embrace the 15-year-old didn't expect.

It took a second for the excitement and adrenaline to wear off before Hop realized the distance between both his face and Gloria's was almost nonexistent.

The two kids quickly broke off their hug and found their attention caught by anywhere that wasn't in the direction of their _rival_.

"Uh, I got a bit excited there. Sorry." Hop fixed his jacket. Eternatus' fire attack was hotter than he expected if he could feel its heat even now.

"No worries," Gloria responded without facing the boy.

"Aww, don't be shy! You gotta celebrate after a victory like that!"

The two heroes turned to Leon, who laid on the floor with his hands on his chest.

"A big help you were, _undefeated champion_!" Gloria stomped and pointed to the downed man. "Why didn't you help when the bloomin' heavens shot lasers at us!?"

"I just woke up! And hey, you both did a splendid good job, you did!" Leon got himself back up, but winced and held his arm.

"Lee?!" Hop ran towards his brother, who laughed at the action.

"I'm alright. What about you? Don't heroes get the girl?" He whispered to Hop as Gloria went to pick up Eternatus' ball.

The big brother in Leon smiled as he saw Hop flush as red as fire type. The logical side of Leon yelped when Hop punched his injured arm in response.

At that moment, Leon could have either shut up or continue teasing his adorable brother.

He decided a sore body for a week was a small price to pay for teasing ammo.

However, both brothers were too distracted with each other to notice that Gloria's Ultra Ball emitted a strange dark aura. The challenger herself didn't notice as she looked towards the brothers when Leon started to huddle into a ball to somehow stop his brother's cute assault.

{How Curious.}

Gloria blinked as she looked around before her eyes fell on her Ultra Ball.

{I Sense Darkness Within You, Hero. Both Of You.}

"Hey, Ria!" The girl looked back to Hop, who attempted to carry his brother by going under his right arm. "Take the left side, yeah? We gotta move this fat loser's butt to the Pokemon Center!"

"Hop!" Leon gasped in falsified-shock.

"I'm on my way, mate!" Gloria smiled and sent the ball to her PC.

Although the ball disappeared, the voice did not.

{Oh, Heroes! This New Seal Does Not Encumber Me. Twice I Admit Defeat, But Perhaps My Third Attempt Shall Be... DIFFERENT.}

{Afterall, Why Summon Darkness When It Already Exists Within?}

[Take Back The Galar Region]

After Hop and Gloria made sure Leon was alright, the two stepped out together of the hospital doors.

{Listen To Me.}

"A pretty ace day, huh mate?" Hop smiled to his rival. Gloria returned a smile to him, which made the boy from Postwick forget how to breathe for one second.

"Yea, we kicked a dark god's arse, we did!" She punched him in the shoulder.

He'd take a bruised shoulder a thousand times if he could see her like this forever—What? No. What was he thinking? "Arse? It was a giant hand!"

Gloria rolled her eyes and started walking. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about."

He walked with her under the night sky and city lights. "Mate, I'm a little worried if you're mistaking hands with arses now."

"I don't want to hear that from you, Mister-Thought-He-Could-Fly-With-A-Cape!"

"I was five! And in my defense, you thought it was a bright idea too at the time!"

"We were toddlers, mate!" Gloria threw her hands out. "No one should listen to us!"

"I'd always listen to you."

{Listen To Me.}

Gloria almost froze when she heard that. She quickly looked to Hop, who looked back at her as if she was the one who did something weird. "Is something the matter?" He asked.

"No," Actually, her heart was being very treacherous at that moment. It kept beating and she felt a mix of happiness and disappointment. What a stupid body part. "That is why I'm seen as the sensible one between the two of us! I _think_! You think with your feet and run ahead!" And she loved to chase—What? No. What was she thinking?

"Oh, yea. Real sensible of ya to deck Shawn from Preschool in the throat for saying Woloo was stupid."

"Stuff it! That was sensible! Daft punk had it coming!"

Despite throwing insults at each other, the two could have enjoyed the rest of the night like that. However, reality is often sobering.

"Oh my Arceus! Is that her!?" "It is!" "Challenger Gloria!"

It took less than ten seconds before a large crowd swarmed the two, or more likely, push Hop out of the way and crowd around Gloria.

Hop was miffed, to say the least.

Hop knew he was out of the Champion Cup; that he lost his chance at reaching his dream of being the one to beat his brother Leon. However, Gloria was amazing as a trainer and a person. Not to mention, she was his best mate! If he lost to anyone, he was glad it was her.

{Are You? Then Why Does Your Heart Clench Whenever She Gains The Love Of The People? Even During Your Journey, Fans Loved—Idolized Her. Do They Even Know You Outside Your Brother's Shadow?}

...

Hop shook his head. He must have been feeling exhausted. He'll let Gloria have the spotlight, for now, she earned it after all.

{Wait. You Almost Heard Me That Time. I Wonder?}

Gloria watched as the sea of people surrounded her. But she focused more on the fact her friend gave a small smile and waved goodbye to her as he left.

That scene triggered a memory for her. Instead of a crowd of adoring fans swarming her, she remembered a bunch of scared kids that thought she was too wild and violent. Instead of walking away, a single boy approached her with a genuine smile instead of a sad one.

{Ah! Curious! Perhaps I Should Try This A Different Way!}

"Alright, you lot!" Gloria managed to push through the crowd after a few signatures. "I gotta get some shut-eye before I beat the Champion!"

Gloria left faster than anyone cared to admit. She had a great day, but that one moment soured it.

{You Are Very Good At That: Ruining Good Things.}

The Trainer from Postwick stopped in her tracks. Did she hear something?

{I See. Instead Of Making You Listen, I Should Talk To You.}

{How Interesting That You Were A Wild Child Growing Up? Now Look At You: A Cruel, Uncaring Beast.}

Gloria put a hand on her head. "Blasted headache? Maybe Hop was right to hit the hay early."

{You Think I'm Lying? Ask Yourself This: Who Deserves To Face Leon More Than You?}

Gloria started to walk towards her Hotel. Her pace was faster than her walk with Hop.

{The Answer Is Clear: Anyone Else But You. Kind Marnie, Passionate Bede, And Determined Hop. They Had More Reason, More Passion, And More Effort Than You. But None Of Them Are Facing The Champion, You Are. And The Worst Part Of It All? You Didn't Have A Fraction If Thier Reason, Passion, And Effort.}

Gloria started running now.

{How EASY Was It When You Destroyed All Thier Dreams? You Smothered The Hope Of Spikemuth; Did Nothing But Watch As Bede's Well-Meaning Intentions Betrayed Him; And Worst Of Them All...}

S-She needed to hurry. This headache only grew worse.

{You Made Your Best Mate Say 'Thank You' For Crushing His Dreams. I Am Not Even Capable Of Something Half As Devastating.}

She slammed the door shut in her room. A second later, she didn't know why, but Gloria found herself accessing her Pokemon PC.

{You Don't Deserve To Win, But You Did. The Rusted Sword Suits You. It Is A Weapon Of Pain, Not Defense. All You Can Do Is Destroy, And You Destroyed Thier Hopes.}

"SHUT UP!" Gloria snapped at thin air. "Shut Up! Shut up! Who's bloody there!?"

If Eternatus was capable, he would have smiled. At last, Gloria listened to the Devil whispering in her ear.

{But Not To Worry. None Of This Is Your Fault.}

"It," She paused for the briefest seconds. "Isn't?"

{No. Don't Cry, Sweet Hero. The Blame Falls On This Accursed Land! Look At Those _people_ From Before! They Do Not Care About You Or Your Friends! All They Care For Is Being Entertained.}

That... wasn't wrong. Marnie, Bede, and Hop all had more reason to win, to battle. But people liked _her_? Why? She had to admit she had a bit of an ego when she beat her opponents. But why would people like a heel like her?

{They Don't Like You. They Like Your Talent. They Want Power To Defeat Anyone They Wish. It's Easy For Them To Pretend To Be You. It's Hard For Them To Be Passionate, To Be Determined, And To Be Kind. You Are Simply A Power Fantasy To Them.}

"No, that's not," Gloria shook her head. "It's not true."

Her eyes snapped open as she realized what was going on. "Eternatus?"

Gloria went to a nearby table and fished for the Rusted Blade. However, as she did, something forcefully pulled her hand and slammed it to the side of the table.

{Huh, On Second Thought, I Will Allow You To Take The Blade Once More.}

Gloria felt control over her hand again. She went for her bag but froze as she realized the voice in her head did not attempt to stop her.

"What did you do?"

{Whatever Do You Mean?}

"Don't play with me! You did something! Maybe some kind of dark magic that makes hurts me if I touch the blade!"

{No. No, I Did Not. I Simply Want To Watch You Defeat The Champion And Destroy More Dreams.}

Gloria flinched at that last part. "What do you mean, destroy more dreams?"

{If I Must, I Will Repeat Myself. Think Of Your Rivals. Alone, They Have More Reason To Win Than You Tenfold, Yet You're The One Challenging The Champion. It's Not Hard To See That You'll Win.}

"My partners and I will defeat Leon. I'm not alone." The girl folded her arms. She admitted she had somewhat of an ego, but she knew Pokemon Battles. She believed that she and her Pokemon could beat Leon. Why would winning be a bad thing?

{What are you going to do as Champion?}

Gloria blinked.

{Can You Do The Same Things Leon Has? Can You Inspire An Entire Region As He Does?}

...

{No, You Can't. Or At Least, Not Like He Does. What Will You Do When You Win? Did You Want This?}

"Of course!"

{But Not Even Half As Much As The Others.}

"S-So?"

{I Understand You, Hero. At First, It Was Fun And Everyone Enjoyed Themselves. But Soon, It Came To A Close, And The Ones That Paid Dearly Were Your Friend's Dreams.}

"I-I didn't want them to lose," Gloria tried to say and clutched her head.

{But Sadly There Had To Be A Loser. And It Wasn't Going To Be You.}

"I...I... I'm getting the blade!" Gloria rushed for her bag.

{You Can Give Them Thier Dreams Back, You Know?}

Her finger stopped before she touched the handle of the Rusted Blade.

{It's Not Impossible. All You Have To Do Is...}

Gloria turned back to her laptop. It showed several screens before the computer showed one of her deposited Pokemon.

"Would you like to withdraw Eternatus to your Party?"

→Yes.

→No.

{Be A Real Hero, Ria. Give Your Friends Thier Dreams Back.}

Gloria hesitated. All She had to do was pick up the Rusted Blade and this would all stop. She could go back to... to...

(Gloria... Thanks, mate. I'm really glad you were the one here with me.)

She saw him try to hide it. She saw him smile at her as if she didn't crush his dreams for almost his entire life.

...

→Yes.

{Ah. Revenge At Last.}

[Take Back The Galar Region]

Wednesday.

Marnie spotted Gloria sitting on a bench overlooking the giant river in Wyndon.

"Gloria, I see you relaxing before your match with Leon, yea?" The girl from Spikemuth smiled before walking over to her rival.

Marnie raised her brow as Gloria got up, holding an Ultra Ball in her hands.

"Who's that?"

"Would you like to see?"

Marnie thought nothing of how odd Gloria was acting. She trusted her; perhaps she was going to show her a funny joke.

Marnie reached for the Ultra Ball.

Thursday.

Bede finished packing his things. He could watch the final match back in Ballonlea.

As he opened the door, he wasn't expecting Galar's strongest challenger to be waiting for him.

"It's you." Bede didn't know how to deal with Gloria after his transformation. He'd like to think he was doing better now. "What can I do for you? Last-minute training?"

Gloria, who seemed... more vacant in her expression... handed him an Ultra Ball. "This is for you."

Bede felt something off. But he also assumed this was the girl's way of trying to bridge the gap between them from before.

Bede reached for the Ultra Ball.

Friday.

Hop felt sick.

{It Should Be You Facing Your Brother, But Alas! You're Not Good Enough.}

He felt like his brain was going to crack open like an egg. He took cold medicine, but nothing he did got rid of this blasted headache. It feels like he's had it forever.

{Don't You Want To Be Noticed For Once? By Your Family? By Your Peers? ...Her?}

Arceus! At this rate, he might have to stay bedridden for Gloria and Leon's match! There's no way he's letting that happen!

"I wonder if this is what having a hangover feels like! Why would adults bloody do this to themselves!?"

Forcing himself out of his bed, Hop sprawled over to his bag.

{It's Not Too Late HeROOOOKA!?}

Huh? The headache finally went away. Hop fished for his bag, and he felt himself picking up the Rusted Shield. Hop blinked and looked at the object harder than before. Was it glowing a second ago?

"Did my medicine finally work? About bloody time! Maybe I should bring you along as a good luck charm." Hop stood up, carrying the Rusted Shield, and feeling a burden lifted off his shoulders.

{That Did Not Work. I Was Further Away From This Hero. I Was Certain He Would Fall By The Second Day. But I Have Regained Much Of My Strength. And There's One Thing He Won't Deny.}

After a few days of intermission, The Finals of the Championship Cup finally returned.

After being bedridden for three days, Hop ran towards Wyndon Stadium.

He didn't hear the rumors of people he passed by.

"Is it me, or are the gym leaders acting strange these last few days?"

"Hey! Yeah! I think I even saw Rihan without his signature Rotom Phone!"

"What? That's weird."

"They're probably doing something about the upcoming Champion Battle."

Hop reached the locker room for challengers. He spotted a familiar mop of brown hair in the distance.

"Yo, mate! There you are!" Hop waved over to Gloria. "So you're facing my bro at last huh? I'm expecting the battle of a lifetime!"

Gloria turned to Hop. "Yeah, wish me luck, mate?"

"You totally got this, mate! It'll be an ace!"

Gloria held out her hand, like that handshake from their battle a few days ago. Behind her back, Eternatus' Ultra Ball glowed with black aura in her other hand.

Hop reached—

"Everybody! It's time for the match of the year! Perhaps the decade!"

"Oh, bollocks! I hope all the good seats aren't taken yet!" Hop rushed out, leaving his friend behind. He slid to a stop in the doorway and smiled at his best friend. "Show them how great you are, Ria!"

And with that, Hop bolted out as he always did.

He didn't notice her vacant expression felt a little more desperate.

{One Shall Be Enough This Time. Two Stopped Me. Twice. Now There Is Only _One_.}

[Take Back The Galar Region]

It was indeed one of the greatest battles of the decade. Both Champion and Challenger fought tooth and nail for even the smallest of advantages. Gloria took enough of those small advantages to gain a Pokemon lead over Leon.

Though, when Leon was down to Charizard, he quickly Dynamaxed and tied up the battle down to their last Pokemon. The crowd cheered louder at that moment than the history of Galar combined.

However, Hop was oddly silent. Gloria's second to the last Pokemon was Cinderace, her first starter. Those two were as close as peas in a pod, why did Gloria send Cinderace before her last Pokemon? Not to mention, Gloria seemed a little more... ruthless than she usually battled.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Gloria took out her last Poke Ball, a familiar Ultra Ball. Hop leaned forward. He tried to think about all the Pokemon his friend caught with an Ultra Ball. There was no way she could train a Pokemon good enough to face Charizard in three days, even with her skill. All the other Pokemon she mentioned were just to complete the Pokedex.

Wait.

Why did Hop remember earlier this week?

He remembered too late as Eternatus filled the other half of the stadium.

The cheers that could deafen an already deaf man were silenced like criminals in death row.

Leon panicked as he saw the embodiment of The Darkest Day. "Gloria, why did you bring him out!?" His question died as soon as it got out of his mouth. He spotted Gloria raising her Dynamax Band. However, instead of the usual light that came from it, a dark aura flared from her wishing stone.

"Ria, stop!" Hop shouted before darkness swallowed them whole.

...

...

Hop put down his arms. Around him, once like a sea of people, felt vast and empty with only the unending darkness surrounding him.

Hop noticed a red, almost pinkish light surrounding him, protecting him by creating a small dome against the darkness around them. The light around him glowed the brightest at his back. This made the young teen fish for his backpack and take out The Rusted Shield.

When he took out the Rusted Shield, Hop remembered what had happened mere seconds ago. "Ria!?"

Hop ran to the edge of the balcony seat. The light of the shield guided him like a moving lantern. From the rails, he spotted an area lit with blue light.

"Ria!?" Hop didn't care that he jumped off approximately ten stories off the rails. Luckily for him, he was a Pokemon Trainer. He already brought out his Corvinknight and ordered him to fly towards Gloria.

Hop ran, even though everything else felt wrong. Gloria was right: Hop thinks with his feet.

As he closed into Gloria, he saw Lee and Charizard sprawled unconscious on the floor.

"Lee!" The younger brother ran to his older brother. He sighed in relief as he found out he was just unconscious. "Ria, come on! We gotta get out of here!"

"Why?"

Hop felt a chill down to his toes. He looked over to Gloria, hoping his ears were tricking him when he heard a voice like the coldest and darkest corners of Galar overlap with hers.

"Wait, Eternatus!?" Hop stood up as his Corviknight hardened into a fighting stance. The boy from Postwick gave an impressive scowl despite him always smiling. "Let Gloria go, you daft, cubic, dark-god failure!"

"Let go? She wanted this." Eternatus with Gloria's body bent to pick up Leon's cloak before putting it over her shoulders.

"That's a lie! Gloria could beat you by herself! You must have taken her by surprise!"

Hop wasn't expecting his 'friend' to laugh at his exclamation.

"That statement isn't false, Hero of The Shield. But this is just an agreement. Your friend was compliant in this."

"I don't believe you, Eternatus!" Hop readied the Rusted Shield as his Corvinight leered. "Where are you!? I'll free Gloria of your clutches!"

"Free?" Hop's heart skipped a beat. Gloria's voice wasn't overlapping with Eternatus anymore. "But, Hop, I feel like a million-dollar coin!"

Hop's breath hitched. "Ria, don't you see Eternatus' got some kind of control over you!"

"No, he didn't. In fact, I quite like it! I've never felt more amazing, mate. You should try it too."

And then, she smiled at him.

It was such a simple gesture, but Hop had always found himself staring at her smile more than he cared to admit or want. He shook his head and ignored how his heart clenched.

Gloria continued to speak as she raised a hand out to him, Hop would be lying if he said he didn't feel a piece of him wanting to take her hand.

"You're the only one I didn't save yet."

"Save? Ria, what do you—" Hop was interrupted as he saw Leon get up behind him.

"Lee! I need your help to save Ria!" Good! With Leon by his side, maybe his big brother could pull off a champion of a move to get everything back to normal.

He expected anything, so why did Leon do nothing?

"Lee?" Hop turned to his idol, his brother. His eyes didn't shine the way they usually did.

"Hey, biggest fan. There's no need to fight."

"No...no..." Hop stepped back from two people he never wanted to be apart from. "Not you too!"

"It's not just him, kid!" Hop whipped his head behind him.

Out of the edges of the dome, people stepped into the light of the weapons. Witch each person, Hop felt it hard to even breathe properly.

"What!? Piers? Rihan!? Even Marine and Bede!?" Hop and his Pokemon saw that they were surrounded.

"Come on, bro," Hop looked back to Lee, who walked over to him. "Join us. This time will be champion!"

Hop whispered no a dozen times within a few seconds as he realized what was happening. "Eternatus! Where are you!?" Maybe if he attacked it, Hop could loosen the Dark Pokemon's hold over everyone!

{Where Am I? Child, Where Are You?}

The shield glowed, and Hop started to see something. He realized the shield protected him, but he never noticed that even back up in the stands, he saw no signs of anyone else.

When Gloria Dynamaxed Eternatus, he must have returned to his titanic size of a hundred Wailords. You think that something that large would be hard to miss, but why did it sound like he was everywhere all at once?

Oh.

Oh no.

"W-We're..." Hop swallowed his spit and broke into a cold sweat. "We're _inside_ you, aren't we?"

Outside of Wydon, people panicked as a large, black hand absorbed the city stadium while the storms above looked akin to the end of the world.

{You're All Alone, Hero.}

Eternatus' voice rang around him.

{Join Us. I Promise It Will Be Wonderful!}

"I-I," Hop thought about fighting Eternatus. But how could he fight something if he was inside it? Maybe he could escape? Where? And how!? Not only that, would he hurt the others on his way out? He couldn't do that!

"Hop," The boy looked over to Gloria. "Join us, please? For me?"

It took him every fiber of his being not to just say yes to her. This was bad! This was horrible! He needed to get out of there!

"Corviknight, get us out of here!" Before his flying type could spread out his wings, he was blasted in the back by a super-effective fire type move. Hop realized it wasn't just the people, the Pokemon were controlled by Eternatus too!

{I Gave You A Chance, Hero. Don't Say I Didn't Warn You.}

With his voice, all the other gym leaders brought out their Pokemon and slowly surrounded Hop.

At that moment, both the Rusted Shield and the Rusted Blade started glowing brighter.

Hop felt the earth shake beneath him and the others. Yet instead of fear, Hop felt an almost hopeful feeling from this.

{What!?}

Something pierced through the darkness like arrows. In fact, two lights did so. As the two lights died down, two familiar Pokemon gave off echoing howls that made the darkness shiver in their presence.

"Zacian! Zamazenta!" Hop cried out in joy as the two legends stood in front of him, ready to fight. Their appearance made Hop regain his confidence. With these two he was sure they could save everyone!

{You Two!? Still!?}

Hop felt the Rusted Shield starting to glow brighter. "Zamazenta!" Hop threw the shield in the air. The shield lit up and fired a powerful light on to the Shield Pokemon, transforming it into its full form.

However...

Zacian fell to the ground, gasping for air with black electricity surrounding him.

"Zacian!?" Hop cried out while both he and Zamazenta were surprised. Hop turned to look at Gloria, or specifically, where the Rusted Sword was supposed to be. There were dark tendrils that shot from above and suffocated the light of the Rusted Blade.

{Not This Time.}

The Tendrils from above snared Zacian and dragged her into darkness faster than the shield legendary and Hop could react. Zamazenta made an effort to chase after his sister, but he suddenly glowed and created a barrier to stop more tendrils from ensnaring him or Hop.

Soon, other Pokemon from the possessed Gym Leaders attacked Zamezenta's shield. And despite his legend, the protective dome of the Shield Pokemon was failing.

"Don't give up, Zamazenta!" Hop tried to say even though they were being attacked by all sides.

"Hop," Hearing her voice, especially with it sounding heartbroken, made Hop's own heart stop beating for a second. He looked over to Gloria who seemed to be almost to the point of tears. "Don't you want to be with me?"

Hop only stared at his best friend, almost as if he was repentant for even hurting her feelings by accident. But this was fatal because lost his will to fight for one second. That was a problem as Zamazenta's shield seemed to flicker that one instant that Hop lost his defiant spirit.

The shield broke, and the attacks went through. Zamazenta acted fast—

BOOM!

An explosion filled the battlefield. However, Hop felt that he was still... fine?

However, he heard the sound of a pained whine. When he opened his eyes, he saw Zamazenta shielding him from all of the attacks. The Legendary looked to him in the eyes... before falling on his side from the combined attack.

"Zamazenta!" Hop cried out as the light of the Legendary started to fade. In the span of a second, Zamazenta returned to his original form while the Rusted Shield fell near Hop as if it was forcefully ejected. Hop reached for The Rusted Shield, only for it to crack in two when he grabbed it.

"No... no!" Hop shouted as he looked at the shattered shield.

Hop felt the darkness around them vibrating. An attack was coming right for them.

To his surprise, Zamazenta woke up and unleashed both a powerful howl and an explosion of light.

Back outside, the evacuating people spotted one of the previous two lights break through the hand and escape out of the dark creature.

When that last light left, the storms around Wyndon grew worse, power disappeared from the city, and darkness covered the giant buildings.

All they could see, was a giant hand of darkness, snatching away all light left in the city, and perhaps... stealing away the region's soul.

[Take Back The Galar Region]

When Hop woke up again, he found himself in what seemed to be the Slumbering Weald. He remembered what happened and looked to his right to see and injured and greatly weakened Zamazenta.

"No! No! Please be alright!" Hop screamed as he looked to the Pokemon and searched his bag for a Full Restore. Even though he used the item, Zamazenta still looked to be in bad shape.

Hop heard a crack from behind him and saw the Rusted Shield, now in two pieces.

The boy slowly reached for the shield, and as he stared at the ancient artifact, the ancient symbol of the heroes of Galar, he only thought one thing.

He wasn't worthy of it.

If it was anyone else, if Gloria was in his place instead of his, she definitely would have saved them all. But instead... it was him... and he failed... again.

Now his brother...everyone... even his best friend... they were all gone...

All because he wasn't strong enough to save any of them...

Hop gripped the shield in his hands to the point where his entire body trembled.

"SOMEONE PLEASE! HELP US!" Hop cried out at the top of his lungs before falling to the floor with tears running down his face. "Please... fix _my_ mistake..."

And so, Galar's True Darkest Day cast over the region.

* * *

Author Notes: The New Year, a new story! (And I finally beat my crippling writer's block!) I hope this story caught your interest. I had a lot of fun making it. Although, I have to admit that I'm so sorry, Hop. I think you're one of my favorite characters in the game.

Happy New Year Folks. (Also, I didn't read Pokedex entries being the casual scrub that I am. Thanks for telling me that Zacian is a girl.)

Edit two: This was previously known as, "Dull Sword, Cracked Shield".


	2. From Heroic Duo to Unorthodox Trio

True to his namesake, a toddler hopped around the room while attempting to copy Pokemon attacks with his mouth.

"And here comes Chawizard with his super-mega-ultra-infooty-midwaife- prosti type-attack!" He jumped off the couch while pretending the blanket on his back was a set of wings.

The boy's mother glanced over to their grandfather. "Pa, where did Hop learn the words, midwife, and prostitute?"

For no reason, the grandfather continued to read his newspaper. He wasn't gripping the paper harder.

The mother sighed and put the breakfast plate down. "Hop, get ready! We're going to bring you to preschool."

"Noooo! I wanna watch Lee on the Tely!" The moving blanket whined.

"You can do that later. I promise you'll love preschool!"

[Take Back The Galar Region]

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" At that point, Hop's mother had trouble finding the difference between hell and preschool. It consisted of screaming kids pulling at each other's hair, ugly crying that seemed to be for the sake of crying louder, and Hop's strong need to go back home to hug Leon and never let go.

"Well," Hop's mom began, "Off you go then, best to get it over with." Despite her attempts to push her second son in, the boy tried his best to be like a tree and plant roots right where he stood, a shame he was less than fifty pounds at the time.

Fast forward a few minutes, and Hop learned what an existential crisis was. Actually, he didn't know the word, but he would recognize the feeling again later in life.

For the first time, Hop was the opposite of his namesake, staying as still as stone while kids everywhere did what kids usually do. While Hop was looking around, he spotted someone in the corner of the room. He didn't know that this person was the reason for this much chaos in the first place, and the teacher forced the ill-behaved girl in the corner with her superior height.

He did go to her, though. The teacher couldn't pay attention due to the fact she was failing to manage little tykes smaller but louder than her.

As he got closer to her, he could hear sniffles coming from the girl in a dress. There was someone else miserable here with him? That was ace! They could be miserable together, then! Hop moved closer to her and touched her shoulder.

"My name's Hop! What's yours!?"

The girl looked at him with teary eyes before she sniffed once. "Gloria."

Hop extended his hand to her—

Little Gloria grabbed Hop's hand and pulled him close. Hop didn't know what was happening until he saw Gloria's eyes turn into dark whirlpools.

**ŴħŶ ƉĨď ŷōŪ ĻĚąṽḘ ḿḘ?**

Hop woke up from bed, screaming.

His family and Gloria's mother ran to him. First, they tried to calm him down. Though when Hop stopped screaming, they started bombarding him with question after question. He didn't understand why some of them were about strange storms across Galar, but he didn't want to answer the important ones about his brother and Gloria.

SLAM!

The room looked to Professor Magnolia after she slammed a cane to the floor. "Times are desperate. I know what we're all feeling, but this isn't the way to settle things. Everyone but Sonia, leave."

Not many people wanted to argue with Magnolia's hardened stare. Hop's mom was the only one he seemed defiant. At that, the older woman's face softened. "I promise; he'll be fine."

That, Hop's mom could trust before she reluctantly left.

With everyone but the three in his room, Professor Magnolia started. "We've taken care of Zamazenta."

Hop's eyes snapped open.

"He seems weak, but he's alive. For now." Magnolia sighed. "But he's getting worse. We think it has something to do with the broken Rusted Shield."

The memories came back to ho as he curled his hand into a fist and didn't seem to stop. "It's all my fault! Why did Zamazenta choose me!?"

"Hop, it's not your fault!" Sonia stepped forward to try and comfort the boy.

"It is! Why was I chosen as a hero!? Gloria? Sure! Maybe even Leon should have been the second hero! All I know is that anyone could have done better than what I did!" Hop yelled out before he slammed the wall with his fist. "I failed them. I failed them all."

They let silence fill the air after that admission of guilt.

"Hop, it's not your fault," Sonia repeated before she started again. "We focused so much on Zamazenta and Zacian that we didn't even realize how much of a threat Eternatus really was. The two heroes, which might have been Zamazenta and Zacian, defeated Eternatus before. But the keyword was defeat. I'm not sure catching him was the way to stop him."

After hearing that, Hop's mind went back to that moment when Eternatus was defeated. The creature exploded, and it looked like they would save the day. But why? Why did he tell Gloria to catch it? They would all be safe if he didn't say those last words! "It really is my fault? I told Ria to catch Eternatus after we beat him! Hop you sodding idiot; you ruined everything!"

At that point, Hop slammed his hands to his head. "Hop!" Sonia cried out, but Professor Magnolia walked in front of her and threw a Vileplume came out.

"Sleep Powder." She ordered the Pokemon. The Grass-type acted fast and sent a puff of air on to the boy. His eyes became heavy, his screaming stopped, and Hop fell to his bed.

"He needs to rest more," Professor Magnolia covered Hop with his blanket. "I hope he calms down soon."

"Oh, Hop," Sonia went up to the boy and put her hand on his head. It felt hot to the touch. "It wasn't your fault. It was never your fault."

"We're going to need to look over your notes," Professor Magnolia recalled her Vileplume. "By the time he wakes up, we're going to need something for him to do. We can start by finding a way to fix the Rusted Shield."

They heard the sound of thunder. When they looked out the window, they spotted the sky turn dark and purple. It looked similar to the air around Dynamaxed Pokemon.

"We don't have much time," Magnolia made her way out of the room.

A second later, they felt the earth shake and heard a cry so loud, but they could tell it was still miles away.

"Or we don't have time at all," Sonia looked over to Hop, who was fast asleep.

Hop's mother rushed in. "People in Postwick are in a panic! Some are saying around half a dozen Dynamaxed Pokemon are heading our way!"

Hop was asleep, Zamazenta was on a bed in no condition to even move, and no one could find the other successful gym challengers or leaders. Postwick was a sitting Psyduck against a few rampaging Dynamaxed Pokemon.

"We need to evacuate." Professor Magnolia started before looking to Hop's mom. "We need to move people at the opposite end of where those Pokemon will come. Sonia, we're going to need your help."

"They're so large! They're coming here too fast before we can organize something like that for everyone!" As if to prove her point, they felt the earth shake harder this time while the roars became louder and less distant than before.

What could they do? They could not run away in time, and they had no one to defend them. Was it better for them to at least try and save some people, or else more people would get hurt? However, Sonia had a different answer.

"Yamper, get my old Dynamax Band."

"Sonia?" Her grandmother turned to see Sonia removing her Professor Coat.

"Sorry, grandma. I wanted to earn this coat a lot, but right now? No one needs Professor Sonia," She went to a nearby Rotom PC and withdrew five different Poke Balls. As she held the five Poke Balls, she paused for a second. It was like she was looking at a past life. At that point, Yamper came in with a Dynamax Band in his mouth, which Sonia quickly snapped on to her right wrist. She silently noticed how easy it was to slip back in as if it never came off in the first place.

"Let's see if _Challenger_ Sonia can still give 'em a champion of a time."

[Take Back The Galar Region]

An Onix the size of a skyscraper battled with a Perrserker that could crush monster cars with ease. Alongside them, a Noctowl blew away trees and smaller Pokemon each time he flapped his wings. A Greedent lagged after the group, eating trees, rocks, and some concrete buildings. While this was sad, it was nothing compared to the roar from its stomach, which only seemed to growl louder than the other Dynamaxed Pokemon.

In the lead of those Dynamaxed Pokemon was an Arcanine who burned the ground and the air as he moved.

These five Pokemon made their way to Postwick. They didn't understand why, in fact, their higher brain functions weren't working. All they heard was this voice behind their ear, telling them to head to Postwick.

As they reached the edge of the humble town, A powerful blast of water slammed right into the face of the Dynamaxed Arcanine. The blow of the attack was enough to make the Fire Type stagger back and cause the other four to look at the direction the attack came.

Sonia stepped forward with a Blastoise, Orbeetle, Vanilluxe, Haxorus, Roserade, and her Yamper.

"Welcome to Postwick," Sonia twirled her hair before she raised her old Dynamax Band that glowed in the darkness. "Now get out."

The other five Dynmax Pokemon roared before rushing for her team.

Sonia raised her band. "Gigantamax Blastoise!"

In a burst of light, Blastoise grew. However, instead of just growing, his form started to change. Blastoise gained around three more canons above its shell, his arms boasted two separate cannons, and Blastoise's Gigantamax from held some kind of faceplate that covered everything but his eyes.

Gigantamax Blastoise aimed all seven canons in the direction of the five Dynamaxed Pokemon.

Sonia threw out her hand and put on her sunglasses. "G-Max Hydro Storm!"

The faceplate of the Blastoise closed up before seven blasts of water converged into one point before exploding into a water version of a laser beam. It encompassed and swallowed five fully Dynamaxed Pokemon before exploding in a torrent of water. When the attack died down, five unconscious Pokemon sprawled on the ground.

Sonia threw her fist up in the air. "Way to go, Blastoise! You still got it!"

However, her Gigantamax Pokemon stilled and narrowed his eyes. The storm up above stirred harder than before and shot bolts of bizarre lightning down. Sonia's eyes widened when she heard the sounds of pain coming from several wild Pokemon, but that was the least of her worries as five new Dynamaxed Pokemon grew from where the bolts struck. The new Dynamaxed Pokemon glared in her direction.

"Uh oh," Sonia looked up to the distortion in the sky. "I have a bad feeling about this."

[Take Back The Galar Region]

Hop woke up again, but this time with a horrible headache. "Uggh, what happened?"

The boy was alone in his room. Professor Magnolia was with the rest of Hop's family on the floor below, unaware that Sleep Powder wore off faster than they expected. Hop heard the sound of thunder and looked up from his window. His eyes widened when he saw the sky look like that of a Dynamax Den. His mind flashed back to the Championship Match, and with it, a slew of emotions bombarded Hop. The most prevalent one was an overwhelming sense of fear that froze the boy still.

Hop was alone with his thoughts and failures.

The memories played out of him being unable to save anyone when they needed it the most. He hated every moment of his mind screaming at what should have happened versus what did happen. To his fortune or misfortune, the storm struck a bolt down on a Perrserker not too far from Hop and Gloria's houses. Hop stopped his hurtful self-reflection when he saw a Dynamaxed Pokemon traveling towards the house. The old him would have started running the second he saw something like this. The old him would have gone out and fought it.

Yet, Hop stayed still. The doubts and second-guessing came faster this time. What if I screwed up again? What if I'm not good enough? What if I make things worse than they already are? Hop started to think when he should have been running.

Gloria was right—

Hop turned his head back to the window. He spotted Perrserker turning away from his house. He hated how felt relief, but where was it going? There was nothing in the direction it was going except for... Gloria's... house...

Hop got out of bed, grabbed the closest thing on his desk, and bolted out of the house.

He didn't stop when his family and Professor Magnolia shouted for him. He didn't stop when the Dynamax Storm fired thunder from the skies around him. He wanted to stop that Pokemon from destroying the home of his good friend.

"Oi!" Hop shouted at the bearded cat giant to get its attention. "Stay away from there, ya overgrown dirt bush!" Hop reached for his belt—but grabbed on to empty air.

His Pokemon were back in the house!

"You sodding buffoon! You did it again!" Hop slapped his forehead before realizing that he grabbed the two pieces of the Rusted Shield. He did remember there was a towering dynamaxed Pokemon above him. The Perrserker raised his claw, which signaled Hop to sprint with all the speed of the three Johto Legendary Dogs. He couldn't lead them back to his house, nor could he lead the Pokemon to Gloria's and her mom's home.

Hop dodged the swipe but felt the impact of the blow push him forward. Without missing a step, Hop landed on his feet continued his dash to the Slumbering Weald.

Despite how fast Hop was moving, Perrserker followed after the trainer. The Slumbering Weald had this thick fog, but something felt off about it to Hop. He didn't care much about it with a giant running after him. His run led to the end of the Weald, where the grave of the two wolves rested.

The air around the place changed from before. Its silence that was once serene and calming now felt empty and lonely. Hop couldn't help but feel as if that change was his fault as well.

The sound of trees crashing made Hop turn around to the Perrserker, pushing past trees to get to him.

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. No Pokemon or friends to defend him, just him and a mad giant.

Hop's life flashed before his eyes as Perrserker raised his paw—

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

An electrical shock came from Hop's left side and struck the Perrserker. The attack caused an explosion that ate up the giant and forced him back to his original form.

Hop's mind recognized that only his brother's Charizard was able to defeat a Dynamaxed Pokemon without changing. But who called that attack?!

Hop looked at where the attack came from and saw a boy. The boy had black, spiky hair and a cap with a Poke Ball symbol on it. He wore a blue, sleeveless vest over a white t-shirt with an upper horizontal red stripe and blue shorts.

"Are you alright!? Maybe it was a good thing we got lost, after all." He addressed that second part to the Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Pika!"

"W-Who are you?" Hop pointed to the boy, a bit shocked that someone he never saw before, one that even looked to be around the same age as him, did the same feat as his brother Leon, The Champion.

The boy looked over to Hop, and he was about to answer until the storm above grew stronger and started zapping more Pokemon in the Weald. Soon, a Galarian Wheezing Dynamaxed along with an Orbeetle.

"Whoa!? How did those Pokemon grow so big all of a sudden!?" The stranger and his Pokemon stepped back in surprise.

"They keep Dynamaxing from that storm!" Hop looked up to see the distortion in the sky.

"Dyna-what?!" The new trainer repeated in utter confusion.

"Dynamaxing! Don't you know what that is!?" With how confused the boy look, and with his accent, Hop picked up that this guy was a foreigner.

However, at that moment, the two boys heard the sound of humming coming from behind them. The two looked and saw the lake behind the graveyard started to glow. Hop swore he saw something small and green, fly behind a tree before disappearing along with a whisper that sounded like, "Cele"? But Hop felt a powerful pull coming from the Rusted Shield. It was like the Shield wanted to go in the pool.

Sadly, the two Dynamaxed Pokemon grew in a frenzy when they saw the pool. They both started to charge up powerful Dynamax moves. Hop's heart dropped. As powerful the Pikachu was from that trainer, how could they stop two devastating attacks?!

The stranger's Pikachu jumped off his shoulder, gathering electricity. At the same time, the stranger himself took out a Poke Ball and threw it.

"Greninja!"

A water and dark type Pokemon appeared. With speed Hop couldn't believe, the water type raced for the Dynamaxed Orbeetle while Pikachu jumped in the path of the charging Galarian Wheezing. There was something impossible about the stranger. Hop spotted something on the stranger's wrist that looked similar but nothing like a Dynamax Band. Instead, it had a jewel with a Pikachu Tail encrusted on it? Not only that, why was his Greninja glowing!?

"Greninja, Water Shuriken! Pikachu, Gigavolt Havoc!" The stranger punched the air with his glowing wrist band, and both Pokemon followed the action of their trainer.

Hop didn't understand what was going on. He understood less when he saw the Greninja changed appearance, and the Pikachu gather electricity that no normal Pikachu should've been able to output. Then Hop gave up as he saw the two Pokemon overpower Dynamax moves with super moves he didn't recognize.

Yet even with the stranger taking down three Dynamaxed Pokemon, a feat that Hop knew not many could pull off, the storm fired more bolts of bizarre thunder that Dynamaxed nearby Pokemon.

It didn't matter how many they knocked down; the storm kept Dynamaxing Pokemon against their will! Hop ran for the pond. He jumped over the grave and dipped the Rusted Shield in the water. The lake shined bright instantly, blinding everyone in the area.

Back in Postwick, inside Sonia's lab, Zamezenta's eyes snapped open.

When the light died down, Hop saw that all of the water, even the river, disappeared. In front of Hop was the Rusted Shield, only it wasn't rusted anymore. It looked ornate, and a smaller version of Zamezenta's form. There was an empty groove that stood out to him as he picked it up. Huh, could an orb the size of a quarter fit in there?

Hop heard the sound of several Dynamaxed Pokemon coming from behind him and the trainer with a Pikachu and strange Greninja. The ground started to shake, as well as the sky. The distortion seemed to grow worse with each second before they heard the sound of howling.

Zamazenta arrived with a burst of light. With his appearance, the dynamaxed Pokemon roared with frenzy as they all charged for the legendary creature. The stranger and his Pokemon got ready to defend themselves. However, Zamazenta inhaled to gather energy and fired a red orb that shot past the Dynamaxed Pokemon and flew into the distortion in the sky. The attack exploded, nullifying the storm and turning those Dynamaxed back to normal.

"Whoa!" The trainer gasped in shock before looking at the Legendary with stars in his eyes. "That's one cool Pokemon!"

Hop couldn't quite understand the actions of this new stranger, but he knew that this foreign trainer saved his life and had powerful Pokemon to boot. While the other trainer zipped around Zamazenta like one of Leon's exuberant fans, Hop frowned because he looked to the new Rusted Shield. The vibrant power he felt from the artifact started to fade away. As it did, so too did all of its colors, giving it an empty rusted color despite how elaborate it now looked. At the same time, Hop noticed the Slumbering Weald felt like it was dying. Hop spotted some flowers nearby wilt even though they looked fresh and in bloom a few seconds ago.

The Slumbering Weald gave up its power, maybe it's life, to save them. Hop hated that idea. Had he been able to stop Eternatus, none of this would be happening!

"Hey, are you alright?"

Hop looked over to the stranger, his two Pokemon, and Zamazenta.

"Who are you?" Hop didn't want to be rude, but the question kept burning at his mind. This trainer was so different like no one ever was!

"Oh," The boy pointed to himself and blinked. "I'm Ash Ketchum. Nice to meet you!" He smiled and held his hand out, and Hop swore the boy looked like Gloria.

There was something child-like about Ash, but it was infectiously and kindly. Hop found himself smiling and shaking hands with Ash. It felt good to smile again after a long day.

Huh, Ash Ketchum? Why does that sound familiar?

[Take Back The Galar Region]

"Ash Ketchum? I feel like I've heard that name before." Sonia put a finger as she thought about it.

"You've heard of me?" Ash looked genuinely surprised that someone heard of his name before. "This is the first day of me visiting the Galar Region."

"Piikkkaaaa." The Pikachu added along.

There was something else. No one could explain it, but looking at Ash made many people feel this niggling sense of wrongness about the trainer. It didn't feel dangerous, but it just felt like Ash was a piece of a puzzle that didn't fit no matter how much one tried.

"Hold on a tick," Sonia saw Ash's wrist. "Can I see what's on your wrist for a second?"

"Oh, you mean my Z-Ring? I got this from Alola!" Ash said this with a smile before confusion replaced it. "Huh? I brought it with me?"

"Alola?" Sonia repeated before she, and then everyone else in Hop's house put a hand on their head. A second passed before Sonia's eyes widened. "Wait, Ash Ketchum!? As in, The First Champion of Alola!?"

"You're a Champion!?" Hop pointed to the boy in disbelief. He was nothing like Leon, but he looked to be around the same age as him and Gloria. "How old are you!?"

"I'm ten—no—I'm seventeen?" Ash corrected himself and shook his head. "I'm seventeen. Sorry, I've been feeling off this whole day."

To be honest, Ash wasn't alone in that. Hop felt something else as well, but then his mind started to realize something. Ash is a Champion of another region. That means he's just as strong as Leon or maybe even stronger than him! Those two Pokemon already took down Dynamaxed Pokemon so easy!

That means Ash could be the one to save Galar! His wish came true! Ash would save Gloria and Leon!

"Mate, this is perfect! We could really use your help right now!" Sonia looked at Hop after he said that.

"Help? Help with what?" It took a bit of time, but they caught Ash and his Pikachu up to speed. After learning about the state Galar was in due to an evil legendary, Ash and Pikachu agreed to help without question.

Professor Magnolia stood up. "Good, that storm we just had? I have a feeling it's all around the Galar Region. Zamazenta and perhaps Zacian are the only ones who can subdue these storms. However, they are but symptoms from the disease of Eternatus. If we want to save the Galar Region, we're going to need to more about Eternatus. The problem is that no one knows much about Eternatus besides the fact he is Galar's Darkest Day." Professor Magnolia paused. "At least, that's what I thought. We need to find Chairman Rose."

"Chairman Rose!?" Hop thought back to when this whole mess started. It was because Chairman Rose was so desperate to stop something that didn't seem like an issue yet. "But he's the bloomin' idiot who revived Eternatus in the first place!"

"Exactly," Professor Magnolia pointed her walking staff at Hop. "He knew about Eternatus long before anyone even knew he existed. If anyone knows his power or perhaps a weakness, it's him."

"But where are we going to find him? Last time I saw him, he allowed himself to get arrested back in Wyndon. After the Eternatus attack," Hop briefly winced but shook his head. "Who knows where he could be now?"

"I think I have an idea," Everyone turned to Sonia. "I remember one time, Leon told me in a half-joke that Chairman Rose has a secret bunker near Spikemuth in Route 7. There might be a chance he's there."

Professor Magnolia pointed to the younger kids. "I suppose it's better than nothing. You three need to get to Route 7 as soon as you can."

"Wait, three?" Hop pointed to himself before shaking his head. "N-No! I can't go. Ash and Sonia should do it!"

Sonia frowned when she saw Hop's reaction. He was usually the first one out the door before they could even finish. Did his encounter with Eternatus bother him that much?

Ash had a different reaction, mostly because he still didn't fully understand everything going on around him. "What? But aren't you Zamazenta's chosen?" He seemed to know enough about this Chosen One business though. Did he go through something like that?

"He chose wrong!" Hop snapped back before looking to Zamezenta. "You chose wrong." After that small whisper, Hop ran out of the house once more.

Zamezenta gave a low whine and looked to the floor in shame.

[Take Back The Galar Region]

"Hop!" Sonia shouted as she passed over several hills. She dropped her hands when she saw a willow tree older than Postwick itself. Its vines and leaves were so thick, you wouldn't even think of it as a tree, but a tall hill.

The stylish girl sighed and went through the vines.

"Why are you here, Sonia?" The red-head looked up. She didn't see Hop, but he heard his voice behind the upper branches.

"Well, we need you, Hop."

"No, you don't!" Hop's voice echoed inside the willow tree. "I screwed up! If I went with you two, I might cause more problems! Gloria was right: I don't think."

Sonia opened her mouth, only to shake her head and sit at the base of the trunk. Hop didn't want to hear anything about himself. He was too deep in his self-loathing.

But luckily, or unluckily, the red-head had an idea of what Hop was feeling. "You remember that I was Leon's rival during his Gym Challenge, yeah?" Sonia took that second of silence as a yes. "Do you also remember that he never lost a battle?"

Sonia felt the branches above shift a little after those two questions. The new professor moved her hair behind her ear while she gave a soft smile. "It was... frustrating... to never beat him no matter how much I tried. I have no idea how Raihan does it."

"You," She heard Hop's voice. "You also lost to him when it counted?"

"Yeah, that one stung the most. I was also really bitter at the time about it." Sonia gave a small scoff. "Some friend I was, leaving my mate alone to the crowd and paparazzi when he needed a familiar face in a new world that stole him away from his old one." The professor looked up. "I envy you in that sense, Hop. You stuck by your mate, no matter what. You're much braver than me."

The tree shifted a little. "You mean that?"

"Hop, I saw that interview where you shooed away those ankle-biting reporters when they kept asking question after question with Gloria. I never knew you had it in ya." She was proud of Hop, for doing what a bitter little girl could not.

"B-But I let them down, Sonia! We're all in this mess cause of me!"

"And I think you're the only one who can get us out of it."

"But you and Ash—"

"Hop, I don't know anything here!" Hop and Sonia spotted Ash walk in the willow tree. "I wanted to help because I don't turn those people that need help." Hop briefly wondered if all Champions were kind as they were powerful? Ash was willing to risk his life just because someone asked for help! It was then that the foreigner pointed behind him. "Also, I think Zamazenta wants you to save the Galar region. I followed him here, but he's waiting just outside."

That caught the teen by surprise. Hop tried to see past the vines and saw Zamazenta waiting outside. He was?

"Why?" Hop wondered out loud.

Ash took out the Rusted Shield that Hop left behind. "Before I knew he was a legendary Pokemon, I knew he was a Pokemon." Hop raised his brow at that odd statement, but Ash went on, "And Pokemon are our friends. They feel the same thing we do, so I recognized that Zamazenta feels bad for failing you the same way you feel like you failed everyone else."

That got Hop out of the branch and climbed down as fast as he could. "What!? He didn't fail me! I failed him!"

When he landed, Ash walked over and returned the shield to him. Hop paused for a second before taking it and going to Zamazenta.

Hop ran towards the shield legendary. The teen didn't expect the wolf to bow in shame at him. "Hey, no! Look, it's not your fault! Don't beat yourself up for it!" As the words left Hop, he realized what he was saying. "I've been doing the same blasted thing, haven't I?"

"You have," Sonia walked up with Ash.

The Alolan Champion spoke up while petting his Pikachu. "I've done stupid things too. A lot more than I'd like to admit." He looked to Hop. "But my friends always steered me back from doing something stupid for long, looks like it's my turn to do so!" He smiled a goofy grin in this dark time. "Me and Pikachu here will help out and make sure you save your friends!"

Hop looked between the two. He calmed down, and while he realized he was acting stupid, he also realized that both his old and new friends were both aces for trying to help him out of his sob party. "You mean it?"

"We're wasting time!" Sonia pumped up. "We're going to save our mates! And to do that, we need to find Chairman Rose!"

Hop looked around him, at Sonia, Ash, his Pikachu, and then to Zamazenta. They all waiting for him. Hop still felt a bit guilty for letting this happen, but more importantly, Leon and Gloria. He remembered how sad Gloria looked, how empty Leon and the other's eyes were. Eternatus took away something important from them, and he was not going to get away with that!

He messed up, but he wasn't going to let others suffer for his mistakes!

"Sonia! Ash! Zamazenta!" Hop threw his fist up in the air as if making a promise to reality. "I'm sorry, I was being daft! I-I want to save everyone! I need your help!" At that, he lowered his hand and bowed. "Please let me come with you!"

"We really can't leave without you, Hop." Sonia folded her arms and gave a small smile of relief.

"Yeah! Let's go save the Galar Region! Then, we can have a lot of awsome battles!" Ash and his Pikachu cheered along.

Zamazenta stood up and howled to reign in this renewed hope.

"Come on! Let's get back to Grandma!" Sonia motioned the two boys. "We can't use the Corviknight Taxi and the Train's down. We're going to need some other way to get to Spikemuth!"

As the new but bizarre team made their way back to Postwick, Hop froze for a second and turned back to the tree. He swore he heard something just now? He shook his head and followed after the others.

No one saw something shift from the willow tree they left. A small being watched the makeshift team with desperate hope in its eyes. "...Cele...bi?"

[Take Back The Galar Region]

{I Sense That Accursed Power Weakening, But Not Snuffed Out. It Seems My Initial Attack Had Mixed Results. Regardless, I Must Make Preparations To Continue A Plan Delayed For Far Too Long.}

{Oh? What's This?}

{I Sense Interference And Divine Mischief. Curious. But This Can Be Turned To My Advantage.}

{Wait! That Light! ...How Fortuitous That Those Against Me Have Unknowingly Aided My Ambitions.}

[Take Back The Galar Region]

"It is time, Shielbert."

"Indeed it is, Sordward."

Two voices joined as one, "It's time for the **True Heroes** of Galar to arrive!"


	3. The Enemy Within and Outside

Alola was amazing. Ash admitted he had a lot of fun in the region, more than he ever expected. Who knew a vacation would lead him to finally winning a league and becoming a Region Champion?

Before he left, he remembered Professor Kukui asking him one more thing.

Right?

"Hey, Ash?" He couldn't remember where they had this conversation. Was it before he left the house? At the airport? Come to think of when exactly did they have this conversation? During the day? The night before? He knew it was before his flight home, but... something felt off.

"I wanna say I'm proud of you for winning." He said that already, right? Ash would have to ask Pikachu again about this conversation. "But I've been thinking, how would you like to be a teacher one day?"

"Me? A Teacher?" Ash pointed to himself with a raised brow. Out of everything he was called, from childish to Chosen One, a teacher was far from one of the things he expected to be called. How could he be called a teacher? Wouldn't others be better at this? In fact, "Wouldn't Lillie be a better teacher?" Granted, she was leaving too, but anyone of his other friends would have been a better choice than him.

The professor laughed in a way that didn't fully sound like him. After he stopped, he looked at Ash with a smile. "Maybe. I was thinking more along the lines of you getting everyone, yourself, and maybe your students motivated to learn. Your love for Pokemon tends to bring others to you, and you've told me about how that's changed the lives of some of your closest friends."

Did he? A weird way of putting it. He thought back from when he first met Misty to how he met the others here in Alola. Come to think of it: they've all changed in one way or the other, himself included.

"I'm bringing this up because I heard about this kid in the Galar Region." Galar? A new region? That meant new Pokemon to meet! While he imagined new friends and adventures, the one who claimed to be Kukui went on. "There's a kid there that could use a teacher. I want you to help him out."

That snapped the boy out of his excitement. "Wait, me? But Professor Kukui, I know nothing about being a teacher!" He even cheated on a project once and got away with it! He felt really bad about tricking everyone, and he later apologized for it. How could Professor Kukui ask that of him?

"But you know a lot about Pokemon and making friends. I need that most of all." The Professor repeated.

Ash raised his brow. "Professor Kukui? What do you mean?"

For some reason, his memory seemed fuzzy. Sometimes, it didn't feel like he was talking to Professor Kukui, but someone else?

Something weird happened in the memory. Kukui's appearance...was... changing? Like a television with a bad signal, it was like he flickered in and out of existence. In his place, what was that small but familiar figure? "Sorry for pushing this into your hands, but you have a track record of helping those in need of it the most. When you get there, search for a boy named—"

"Ash!?" No, that couldn't be right. Ash looked to his right and saw Hop waving at him. "Are you alright, mate? You've been zoning out hard."

The boy from Kanto shook his head before looking to the boy. "Sorry, what did I miss?"

"Sonia and her grandma are still trying to discuss how we're going to get to Route 7." Hop motioned ahead. Sonia and her grandmother weren't really discussing, they seemed to be shouting back and forth about how they would get to Route 7 with the taxi and trains down. "It's going to be a while until they figure something out."

Ash looked over to Pikachu and rubbed his chin. Standing around doing nothing didn't really sit well with the young man. But as he petted Pikachu, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, why not have a battle while waiting?"

Hop froze as he heard the offer. In that instant, he felt a plethora of emotions from such a simple thing that he once loved. "A-A battle?"

The young man from Kanto smiled and gripped his fist to pump himself up. Hop swore he saw a mirror reflecting who he was before Eternatus won. "Yeah! I think learning about some battling styles here in Galar will help out a lot! Plus if we're going to be battling those large Pokemon, we're going to have to be ready."

The Galarian looked away for a second. He seemed to think before he nodded and looked back to the young man from Kanto. "Alright, let's battle. There's a field outside of the professor's house."

Hop led the way towards the battlefield. Instantly, a wave of nostalgia hit him before any super-effective move could. He remembered everything to the point where he felt like he was living the day he and his best friend were trying to convince Lee to sponsor them. The bright blue sky, the fact he couldn't stand still long enough for a second, and the way both he and Gloria picked up their Wishing Stars at the same time felt like it was the sign of something truly grand.

Then Eternatus snuffed it like suffocating a sleeping person.

The field was mostly the same. However, the sky felt darker, some part because of Eternatus' influence reaching even up to here. He felt sluggish compared to the energy he gave off when he last stood here. And the fact it was only him to return home felt like a slap on the face.

"Hop, are you alright?" The Galarian looked across the field to Ash.

But instead of Lee or his best friend, a stranger stood across from him, a champion of another region. He had to admit, a piece of him still wanted to beat Leon. He might not have the chance now because of certain reasons before Eternatus stole his brother, but standing before him was another champion, another chance to see if he had what it took to beat his brother!

This roundabout way of a second chance lit a fire inside the former challenger. "I'm alright, Ash! I want you to battle me with everything you got!"

Ash's eyes lit up in a way that Hop didn't recognize. He didn't see this silent, but laser-focused gaze that his brother gave off. It didn't remind him of his best friend's poker-faced smile. Ash looked to his Pikachu, and the two shared a smile that looked as if they were both children on Christmas morning.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash cried out as the electric Pokemon jumped to the field with his cheek pouches sparking.

Hop felt something in the air. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he already found himself holding a Poke Ball tighter than usual. Yet Hop had a feeling that Ash would lead with Pikachu. This gave him some ideas about how to prepare for it.

"Go, Sandaconda!" The Sand Snake Pokemon appeared on to the field with a powerful thud. With a ground type, Sanaconda shut down most of Pikachu's powerful electrical atta—

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Hop and his Pokemon were caught off guard when Ash called out a command without hesitation. Pikachu moved as fast as his typing, already slamming into the head of the ground type and backing off before Hop could even realize what was happening.

"Now, Iron Tail!" "B-Bulldozer, Sanaconda!" Ash commanded without hesitation, something that Hop was filled with at the moment. How could he not, Ash didn't even seem to care that he was at a type disadvantage. He was making it look like Sandaconda was the one that had the disadvantage!

The move Bulldozer allowed Sandaconda to use his massive body to move in speeds that it usually couldn't move. Yet instead of running away or being scared, Pikachu ran up to the incoming ground type with a smile on his face. Even though he wasn't using Quick Attack, Pikachu raced towards the incoming Sandaconda then—Hop didn't know what to make of it. Pikachu suddenly spun? Twirled? Jumped? He did some amazing combination of the three that gave him the ability to cover a lot of space in a short amount of time. Now, he was at the ground type's open left side and his spin gave him extra momentum to unleash the Iron Tail. Despite Pikachu's size, when it struck Sanaconda's side, a small shockwave erupted from the impact and the ground type ended up rolling a large distance away.

Hop could only stare agape at the spin dodge before he looked over to Ash. "How did you do that!?"

"I learned that from a friend in Sinnoh!" Ash wiped his nose before he threw out his hand. "This one I learned recently from Alola! Pikachu, use Electro Web near those two trees!"

Just like before, Hop was dumbfounded at the order of Ash. He watched as his Pikachu shot an electrical web at the two trees not too far from the battlefield. Hop didn't know what was going on, but he knew he didn't like the fact Pikachu was already running towards his own attack. Hop watched as Pikachu ran into the center of his own attack and the electric web started to stretch like a rubber b—

"Dig, now!" Hop ordered his Pokemon. The ground type obeyed and despite its size, it buried itself underneath the dirt. A good thing too, Pikachu bounced off the Electro Web with a Quick Attack, further increasing his speed and power from the lift-off. Yet even though Pikachu barely missed his attack, he still moved with that momentum, racing around the field that not many people could catch up with.

Yet, Ash noticed something about Hop. Even though Pikachu was moving as fast as his typing, Hop's eyes kept up with Pikachu's movements. It took Ash a long period of time to keep up with his dearest friend's speed, but Hop was keeping up on his first time seeing it!

It was then that Ash realized something: Sandaconda didn't pop up yet. Unfortunately for the Galarian Challenger, the young trainer from Kanto had far too much experience. Ash smirked. "Sorry, Hop! You're not the first one to try that!" Hop's eyes widened as Ash pointed up. "Pikachu, Iron Tail on the ground! Hard!"

Pikachu jumped high in the air before he dashed back down with a Quick Attack. However, he stopped his attack mid-fall and spun with an Iron Tail. When he landed, he created a shockwave that cracked the entire battlefield. Even if Pikachu was obviously high-leveled, breaking the ground wasn't usually a feat he could do. The reason why he could do this was because Ash knew that Hop was planning when Sandaconda didn't pop up. He once saw someone use a ground type to weaken the ground beneath a speedy Pokemon, which caused it to fall into a pothole and allowed the ground type to pin it down and attack it. But there was a slight problem to it: weakening the ground also meant it could collapse right on top of the ground type if it was hit with a powerful enough blow.

As the ground cracked and fell from uneven ground, everyone heard a shrill cry of pain coming from Pikachu's upper right side.

"Sandaconda!" Hop shouted as he saw the ground type try to push through the debris to get back up.

The Alola Champion turned the tables without a sweat. "Pikachu, use—"

"Hey! You two!" A scream called the two over their battle. They turned to see Sonia waving over to them. "Grandma figured something out! Get over here!" As she finished, she went back into her grandma's house.

At that, Ash looked over to Hop. "Looks like we gotta continue this later. That was a great battle though, Hop!" Although Ash said that with a smile, he quickly noticed Hop seemed almost bummed.

He saw that Hop was nervous before the battle. From what he was told about the situation, and what little he saw in the boy's home, battling to be the Champion of Galar was as much as Hop's dream as it was to Ash's dream to be a Pokemon Master. But unlike him, there seemed to be this pressure to fulfill his dream or else... something.

Ash found himself walking past the slightly broken field to Hop and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," He waited for Hop to look him in the eye. It almost looked like Hop didn't realize Ash was walking up to him. "You did great! It was a fun battle!"

"But you were going to win," The way those words came out almost felt like he said those words a hundred times before. Hop looked down and gripped his fists. "I need to be better! I have to be better! Everyone's counting on me!"

Ash didn't really know what to make of Hop's feelings, but he knew something felt wrong about that sense of desperation. When Ash messed up, he knew his friends were there to help him out. But now? It seemed like he had to be the responsible one. Uhh? What do responsible people do? Wait a second! Professor Kukui asked him to be a teacher to someone here in Galar! Even though Ash forgot the name, maybe he could practice being a teacher to Hop before he had to find that other person Professor Kukui assigned him to. The fate of the Region seemed a little more important after all.

"Hop!" Ash's eyes lit up as he held on to both of Hop's shoulders and looked the younger trainer in the eye. "How would you like me as a teacher?!"

To Hop, the sudden offer came like an attack that came from nowhere. His eyes widened while he gawked at the slightly older teen. "W-What?"

Ash went on as Pikachu watched him. "You said you needed to be better, right?! I can totally help with that!" He's helped his friends in times of need and they helped him! Maybe this teaching thing might not be so hard after all!

"R-Really!?" Ash removed both his hands when Hop reacted the way he did. "Can you teach me how you did all those creative moves!?"

The raven-haired boy blinked after he heard that question. "What creative moves?"

"How you did those things with your Pikachu! Your Pokemon moved and battled in a way that I never saw before!"

Oh. Okay, he could teach Hop's Pokemon some moves he learned. That shouldn't be too hard. Right?

"We should probably see what Sonia has for us first." Ash motioned to Hop to follow him back to the house.

When the two got in, Sonia explained to the two that Professor Magnolia found something that could help them get to Route 7. They had to meet her in the garage.

As Sonia led the two boys and some Pokemon through the garage door, they expected a vehicle to help them get to their destination.

They were half right.

It's just no one expected their need-for-speed to be an old, dingy Pickup truck that was originally white until the years painted it with rust and other colors.

After a few seconds of looking at the mode of transportation, Sonia laughed and looked over to her grandma. "Good joke, Grandma, where's our real way to get to Route 7?"

Her grandmother huffed in response and pointed to the truck. "I'll have you know that I consider Mateo an important family member who's carried me over my harsh college years! I won't have you disrespect him."

Hop and Ash shared a look at each other after hearing the truck had a nickname like a Pokemon.

"Wait," Sonia was no longer smiling. "We have to ride that thing?"

However, Professor Magnolia's smile grew as her granddaughter's smile fell. "Ride? Sweetie, don't you have a license?"

[Take Back The Galar Region]

For the first few minutes of the drive, Ash, Hop, Zamezenta, Pikachu, and Yamper were silent in the back of the pickup truck. The same couldn't be said for the radio that played country music that was popular... during Professor Magnolia's time.

Sonia was having a battle of her own with the car's radio as they traveled under the distorted sky.

Ash, in a rare moment of clarity, decided to get back to trying to teach Hop while they were making their way to Route 7. "Hey, now would be a cool time to talk about what you wanted to learn?"

Hop's eyes widened. "Yeah! So, can you teach me how to do that Spin Dodge your Pikachu did? That was sick!"

"Well, we learned it from my friend who's a coordinator..."

"A what?"

"Oh, you don't know what they are? They're..." Ash paused a little to find the words to describe what coordinators were. "They're trainers who use Pokemon moves to show off." He shook his head. "No, wait. That's not how it works. If only May, Dawn, or even Serena were here. So..."

Ash went on a tangent on how Coordinators "make moves look pretty". Somewhere along his tangent, he admitted he did some contests too and even tied with one of his friends. However, the way he explained it made Hop more confused about it. The Galarian boy tried to look it up, but unfortunately for him, the internet was down even though the radio kept playing the same song over and over again.

"Because they use moves differently, my Pokemon are different, right?" Ash looked over to Pikachu for any form of help. The electric type just shrugged his shoulders.

Hop could understand that a little more. But Ash was horrible at explaining things. Heck, even a ten-year-old could explain things better than Ash could! "I think I get it: is it like your weird Dynamax Band?"

The Alolan Champion followed Hop's point to his wrist where he wore the specialized item. "Oh no, this is a Z-Ring! It lets me use Super Moves!" Ash then went on to poorly explain what that was. On the plus side, he handed his Z-ring over to Hop to give him a feel of what it was like.

However, when it came to the topic of battling with the Z-Ring, poets would pale to what the young man explained. He painted epic battles, great friends, and nail-biting tension. One of the facts he let slip, made Hop interested in the Z-rings more than humanly possible.

"Super Moves that require poses to work!? Where has this been all me life!?" By now, Hop had the Z-Ring on where his Dynamax band should have been. He was eyeing the specialized Electricium that fit perfectly into the new band.

"Yeah, I even got other crystals for other types." The trainer from Kanto fished his pockets and showed three other crystals. "These are the Fire, Grass, and Water Z-Crystals. Also known as Firium, Grassium, and Wateruim." As Ash handed the crystals for Hop to mess with, Pikachu climbed up Ash's shoulder and seemed confused.

"Pika? Pika pika pikapiiiikaa?"

"Huh? I'm not supposed to have these?" Ash looked to his partner before looking at the Z-crystals on his person. "Hey, why did I bring all of these with me? I mean, I'm probably going to need them, but," Ash paused midsentence and stared at the gems in his person. "I thought I didn't own some of these? And don't these only work in Alola? I could have sworn I heard someone say that..."

It was at that moment Ash realized he strayed waaayyyyy off-topic. He was supposed to be teaching Hop how to battle!

Meanwhile, Sonia cried out in relief. "Finally! It blooming stopped!"

The two boys noticed the country music stopped playing. However, instead of that, there was this weird static coming out from the radio. At that moment, Zamazenta raised his head up and started snarling towards a direction.

"On second thought," Sonia heard a noise coming from her Rotom Phone as it showed her a chart of increasing Dynamax Energy. "I think I want the song back on."

Hop stood up and looked at Sonia through the right window. "Sonia, Zamezenta is pointing in Motostoke's direction! We gotta go there first and help the others in need!" If it was anything like in Postwick, Dynamaxed Pokemon might be rampaging through the area!

Sonia turned the truck right for the direction of the city. President Rose could wait, others were in danger!

[Take Back The Galar Region]

Or at least, that is what they thought.

As they headed closer to the storm, the trio noticed something, or rather they noticed the distinct lack of destruction at the center of the storm. When they finally arrived... the city was as normal as they were last in it.

That was a problem.

As the skies above them warped and distorted like an upsidedown lake, the trio noticed a distinct lack of... anyone in the streets, human or Pokemon. It was like a ghost town.

It was then that Ash's Pikachu looked and pointed to something in the distance. The raven-haired trainer followed his partner's point and asked, "Uh guys? Is it me being new here, or are giant, black and red thorns supposed to be in the center of this city?"

The two Galar natives looked to where the Kanto young man pointed. To their surprise, they spotted something in the distance, a thick forest of giant black and red thorns that seemed to grow as the size of a stadium.

In fact...

"Hey, isn't that the Motostoke Gym?" Sonia asked out loud.

"The gym?" The two boys spoke out with varying levels of surprise.

With the town deserted and with strange thorns growing out of the gym, the new team decided their next course of action was to investigate the gym.

Yet, Hop can't shake this feeling of something uncanny. The way everything's been going on in Motostoke, it feels like this might be the fate of Postwick if Ash and Zamezenta didn't do what they did back then. The scarier part about this is that this situation is giving him this strong sense of nostalgia. He remembers running down these streets when the sky was still blue, and someone was chasing after him. He even keeps looking over his shoulder behind him, hoping to see a familiar face catch up with him. The nostalgia scares him when he knows he should be feeling stressed instead of relaxed.

Even though it didn't take them long to get to the place where the gym once stood, everyone, even Zamezenta could feel the silence slowly eating away from them.

To either their luck or misfortune, despite the thorns covering up the stadium, the front doors seemed untouched and open, as if it was inviting anyone to come in. However, even though the door was open, they could see nearly nothing beyond the door with how dark it was.

It was at that point that the party noticed Zamezenta was growling and narrowing his eye towards the darkness.

"Well, I guess this means we go in, right?" Everyone turned to Ash after he said that. "What? We're not going to solve anything if we stay out here."

He was right. Soon, the three of them entered through the door. Hop saw the place, once filled to the brim with lights and people, now empty, dark, and silent to the point where Hop swears he hears his heartbeat like someone from Team Yell.

Sonia brought up her laptop and started crunching numbers. "According to this, there's a large spike of Dynamax Energy coming from here. It's bigger than anything I've ever seen before!"

However, Hop felt a chill down his spine and a faint voice. He followed that feeling past the front counter, towards the door leading to the gym stadium. For a second, the challenger saw himself and another talking about numbers and their uniforms.

The sound of Zamazenta snarling brought Hop back to the present. He watched as the legendary growled towards the back of the gym, where the stadium was.

The last time he was in a stadium, that stadium was inside a giant Pokemon of darkness. Not exactly a welcoming experience.

The old him would have run headfirst into the direction. Instead, his memories played those moments over and over again.

Hop stepped back.

"Hey, maybe we should leave?" The Galar trainer asked as both Sonia and Ash turned to him. "This place gives me the chills."

"You want to leave?" Sonia asked with some amount of disbelief. But even in the darkness, she could spot Hop not acting like his usual self.

Ash didn't know this though and asked, "But Sonia said this is the center of the storm. Shouldn't we check it out?"

At that moment, before they could talk it out, the entrance locked behind them.

The door behind the counter leading to the Gym Challenge opened up.

Zamazenta, Pikachu, and Yamper tensed and looked at the doors beyond the reception room.

"Well, that answered our question." Sonia took out her Rotom Phone and had it open up a flashlight. Sonia led the way for the group to follow, but all of them thumbed a Poke Ball just in case.

"I can barely see a thing!" Sonia said as she squinted her eyes to even focus on the flashlights on their phones.

Hop trailed behind Sonia and Ash. As he passed the Gym 'puzzle', his mind went back to when, a lifetime ago, a challenger battled to catch slippery Pokemon to battle Kabu. He remembered the sparks and embers thrown his way, the way his targets had deceptively more space than the small patches of grass allowed them, and most of all, he remembered that last-second catch with a throw that would cause baseball sponsors to beg him to join their teams.

It was a fond memory from a kinder time. Hop wished he came back to remember in a better time. He shook his head and told himself he needed to focus; now was not the time for a trip down memory lane.

Even without power, the door to the stadium was wide open. Yet as they climbed the steps to the gateway, they noticed the darkness was so thick it lessened the travel distance of their flashlights. As they stepped in, Hop felt himself wearing his challenger uniform for the first time.

He tried to concentrate, but ever since he came to Motostoke, his mind has been replaying his first journey across Galar. He remembered the darkness of the hallway and the light in the end.

He wasn't scared of the darkness then, mostly because there was a light at the end of the hall. More importantly, he was walking with a dear friend.

Now? Who knew what was past this darkness? He knew it wasn't the scream of adoring fans that's for sure.

There was a purple glow coming at the end of the hall. Hop felt this might have been a bad idea. Despite his promise to Zamezenta and the others, a part of his subconscious started to whisper that he should probably run away.

A bit too late for that.

When the three stepped into the stadium, they weren't greeted with lights galore and screaming, cheering fans. Instead, utter silence greeted them with deep darkness.

"What the bloody Distortion World is that!?" Even though it was dark, what came into view was something that the team wished they didn't see.

It was an obelisk that towered to the very roof of the gym, but its color scheme was like that of Eternatus. But it didn't look made by anything human. The obelisk was comprised of these strange plates that levitated above each other to the very top. At the very bottom were like roots of old trees digging deep into the ground. Overall, it looked like something not of this world! No one had ever seen anything like this before!

"I think I've seen something like this before."

Sonia and Hop turned to Ash, looking at the obelisk.

"What do you mean by that!?" Sonia pointed to the obelisk. "How could you have seen something as insane as this!?"

"Well," Ash put a hand on his chin and tilted his head. "How do I explain this? You guys know what Ultra Beasts are, right?"

They didn't.

Before Ash could show off his horrible exposition skills once more, they heard the sound of someone walking across from the other side of the stadium.

"There's someone here?" Sonia asked before she saw their Pokemon snarling and readying themselves into a fighting stance.

They tensed as they heard the footsteps coming closer and closer, and they spotted a figure entering from the other side of the stadium by the glow of the obelisk.

"Wait!? You!?"

"How are you here!?"

"Uhh, guys? I don't know who that is?" Ash and his Pikachu felt more left out than usual. "Who's that guy dressed in red?"

While Ash didn't have a lot of tact, the description did fit Kabu as the Fire Gym leader. However, what surprised Hop and Sonia most of all was not the fact it was Kabu, but the fact he looked younger than he ever did before! His hair was now black instead of gray, and he had no visible wrinkles!

"Kabu!? B-But you look so!?" The words stopped forming in Sonia's mouth as she stared at the man.

"Isn't it wonderful?" The two who knew Kabu felt a chill down their spine from the fire user. He was a passionate and fierce man, but his current tone felt like a demon trying to impersonate his true self. "King Eternatus offers all his subjects whatever their hearts desire."

"King Eternatus!? He's not a king, Kabu, he's a monster!" Hop cried out before he noticed something. "Hey, why are you wearing the Champion Uniform!?" He recognized that shirt with the sword and shield logo. It belonged to Leon wherever he went.

"Champion Titles are given to those who have proved their worth to the King. I am no longer a gym leader of the fire type gym, but the Champion of Flames!" His eyes turned to swirls of darkness as he said that last line.

At that moment, the obelisk started to cackle with energy. There seemed to be some connection with Kabu and the Obelisk.

"And as his Champion, I must carry out his two orders," Kabu threw his cloak off his shoulders and pointed up. When he did, the three and their partners felt the ground shake. Not only that but was it getting hotter? Wait a second, everyone but Kabuu was starting to pant and sweat! The temperature was rising at an alarming rate!

Hop remembered faster than a guillotine blade. "Centiskorch."

At the name of the Pokemon, fires lit up from around the corners of the stadium, revealing Kabu's Centiskorch already in its Gigantamax Form and surrounding the three by hiding itself in the darkness.

For some reason, a twisted aura surrounded and made the creature even bigger than before!

As the bug and fire type started to move, Kabuu finally continued his words.

"Destroy the Shield, and capture the foreign light!"

That was all they got before the massive creature rushed for them with the power of over a thousand monster trucks.

[A/N]

Man. I hope you guys are doing well. This whole pandemic has been eating up my already busy schedules. (Combining that with Writer's block and stress, I haven't written anything in a long time and I've only recently gotten back to writing.)

I hope you all enjoyed the story, and that this finds you well. See ya soon I hope.


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